Non-standard Square-pixel VGA Games
The cRPG Blog brings you a chronological list of the most technically notable IBM PC MS-DOS games that were coded to display in non-standard square-pixel VGA 320x240 as opposed to non-square-pixel VGA 320x200 (4:3 as opposed to 16:10).
Back in the day, 320x200 computer games appeared to be square-pixel because the analogue cathode ray-tube monitor (CRT) natively scaled screen-graphics to 4:3, but the original digital graphics were actually 16:10.
In paint packages such as Deluxe Paint and Brilliance (1985/93), graphicians of 320x200 computer games outputted their art assets in squashed proportions in order to anticipate the monitor's aspect ratio, but graphicians were not always consistent: in the same game, on the same screen, you can sometimes see proportional and disproportional shapes. One circle appears propotional, another a prolate or oblate ellipse. Oftentimes, the shapes that appear on the playfield (where the action takes place) are proportional but the HUD shapes are disproportional. e.g., M1 Tank Platoon 1989.
320x240 (Mode X) was not as commonly employed as 320x200 (Mode 13h) because coding 320x240 was much more complicated and largely undocumented.
Circa 1993 non-standard VGA modes became more common (such as Mode X), improving pixel-display performance and proportions:VGA Mode X: 256 colors, square-pixel 1:1 aspect ratio at 320x240 to 360x480 + page-flipping + parallel pixel processing + per-pixel hardware scrolling.
Non-standard Square-pixel VGA Shoot 'em ups
The following shoot 'em ups display in square-pixel 320x240. For more info on these shoot 'em ups please refer to History of Shoot 'em ups.
The Last Eichhof (1993, Alpha-Helix)
The Flying Tigers (1995, Jay Kramer)
Stargunner (1996, WizardWorks)
Seek & Destroy (1996, Vision Software)
Nebula Fighter (1997, Holodream Software)
Non-standard Square-pixel VGA Platform Games
The following platform games display in square-pixel 320x240. Black borders indicate that the viewport is not taking advantage of all screen-space. Also, playfield sizes are reduced by score-panels and suchlike in most platform games.
Flashback 1992, Delphine Software International
Lost Vikings (1993, Silicon & Synapse)
On a technical-level this is a good game:
Note that Silicon & Synapse became Blizzard Entertainment.
Blackthorne (1994, Blizzard Entertainment)
Blackthorne does not scroll: it is a flip-screen computer game. Wise decision.
Note that Blizzard Entertainment would go on to code WarCraft and WarCraft 2. However, the inferior Diablo 1 and Diablo 2 were coded by Blizzard North.
It is funny how Blizzard North garnered so much underserved acclaim from the mainstream: they are not even the best Blizzard crew.
Case in point: Diablo 1 screen-scrolling is not as smooth as WC2 or even Lost Vikings screen-scrolling. And Diablo 1 runs at a pathetic 25 FPS.
Superfrog (1994, Team 17)
Note the full-screen 320x240 playfield. This is a port of the Amiga original. While Superfrog is nothing special in the grand scheme of platformers, at least its playfield is full-screen and it runs at full frames.
On a technical display level this is a king-tier computer game:
Earthworm Jim (1995, Shiny Entertainment Inc.)
Earthworm Jim runs in 320x240 at 60 Hz or 320x224 at 72 Hz. Requires a i80486 DX2-33 MHz CPU, 520 kbytes base memory, 8 megs of EMS and 1 meg vRAM.
The Lost Vikings 2 (1997, Beam Software)
Norse by Norse West: The Return of the Lost Vikings aka Lost Vikings 2 runs in 320x240.
Requires a i80486 DX4-100 MHz CPU, 16 megs of RAM and 2 megs of vRAM. Employs pre-rendered sprites and FMVs. The Windows version requires a Pentium 60 MHz, 16 megs of RAM and DirectX 3.0.
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